UN calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Syria to facilitate care for earthquake victims

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Damascus (AFP)  The UN Human Rights Commission on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Syria to expedite aid to all victims of the devastating earthquake in Syria. The death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria surpassed 23,000 on Friday.

Officials and medical sources said more than 23,000 people were killed in a series of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on Monday, with the death toll in Turkey alone surpassing 20,000.

Hopes of finding more survivors soon faded as rescuers continued to search the rubble, and the cold now threatens the lives of thousands of survivors left without food or shelter .

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the earthquake as the “catastrophe of the century” and criticized the government’s response before acknowledging its “flaws”. On Thursday, the first UN aid convoy crossed the border into rebel-held northwestern Syria. The United Nations released her $25 million from emergency relief funds to launch humanitarian aid in Turkey and Syria.